The Immortal Fox Lord
by Mugetsu16
Summary: I was always alone. Since the moment of my birth, I was set apart from other people. They come and say they are my family. That they love me. That they care for me, and that they want my forgiveness. What is there to forgive? What is forgiveness? What do they want from me? They confuse me. Humans confuse me. Is it good that I myself am not human? Is it good that I am alone?
1. Returns and Revelations

**Well, this was one of the final versions of the Naruto x Claymore that I thought up before I chose the plot line that I am using in **_**Blurred Lines. **_**In this one, Kurama (Fem. Kyuubi) contacted Naruto instead of Hikari, so Naruto will be a lot colder. **

**Also, the yin and yang yoki were sealed into Hikari and Narumi respectively while the excess yoki around Konoha was sealed into Kushina. The soul will be sealed in Hikari. **

**I am not going to start with the backstory since it is similar to the one in **_**Blurred Lines. **_

**This is going to be only a single chapter unless you guys want me to continue it. Even if I do continue this, **_**Blurred Lines**_** will be my number one priority because it is the better of my two stories and it would be behind compared to this one. **

**WARNING: May contain clichés depending on the way you look at it. **

**Chapter 1: Returns and Revelations **

A blonde spiky haired young boy of twelve years was walking towards the Hokage Tower. The most striking aspect of his appearance was the kill-me orange jumpsuit that he was wearing. It was riddled with tears, given that he did not have the time to repair it.

He had been returning home after receiving his hitai-ate from his closest friend, Umino Iruka. He could still remember the trials and tribulations that he went through in order to receive the hitai-ate that he now wore proudly upon his forehead...

_**Flashback - Earlier that Day**_

Uzumaki Naruto was sitting on the swing outside the academy, watching longingly at the children who were being congratulated by their parents for passing their graduation exams. Every now and then, one parent would glare in his direction, and he could hear something about the Kyuubi.

With his limited intellect, he was trying to ponder what they meant. _"Kyuubi, what do I have to do with the Kyuubi? At least they aren't beating me anymore. Maybe they are talking about a new type of ramen that they want me to try..."_

When the thought of ramen crossed his mind, the orange-clad boy started to drool. Just as he was going to continue fantasizing about his precious ramen, he was interrupted by one of his academy senseis, Mizuki.

"Hey Naruto, how are you holding up? I am sorry that you failed," Mizuki said with a fake look of sympathy on his face.

Naruto looked up at his sensei, surprised by his appearance. "Oh, hey Mizuki-sensei. I don't hate Iruka-sensei or anything, I just wish he would cut me some slack. I am trying my hardest."

"Naruto, you don't need to be hard on Iruka-san, he is just doing what he thinks is right." After the silver-haired teacher said this, a devious yet sinister gleam entered his eye, a look that had escaped the notice of Naruto. "Besides, I am sure that you will pass the extra credit assignment."

Naruto looked up, hope brimming in his eyes. "Extra credit assignment? What extra credit assignment? Does this mean that I can still be a shinobi?"

"Oh, of course. All you need to do is steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Tower and learn one jutsu from it. If you can do that, you will pass and be given the rank of genin."

Naruto started to jump up and down, overjoyed that he now had another chance. He turned around and rushed off, getting ready for the assignment. As he rushed off, he throws a hand in the air and waves back at Mizuki. "Thank you Mizuki-sensei! I will pass and become a genin. Look out Konoha, the future hokage will pass dattebayo!"

Once Naruto was out of sight, Mizuki let a sinister grin crawl across his face. He turned around to depart, muttering one word into the wind.

"Fool..."

_**Fast Forward Few Hours - A Forest in Konoha**_

Naruto was laying on the ground exhausted as he was panting for breath. It had taken some doing, but he had finally mastered a jutsu from the Scroll of Seals. Said scroll was laying next to him unfurled to the first jutsu on the list.

"Yes, I mastered that one and Mizuki-sensei isn't even here yet! Maybe I will have enough time to master another one!"

Just when Naruto was about to look further into the scroll, he was interrupted by Iruka when he came hurtling into the clearing. He caught sight of him former student and promptly started to yell at him. "Naruto! Why did you steal the Forbidden Scroll! Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?"

Naruto just grinned stupidly at Iruka, almost as if he did not hear a single word that his sensei had said. "Oh, hey Iruka sensei, I found you!"

This just caused the spiky-ponytailed chunin to face fault. When he got back up, he started to yell at Naruto, somehow with this head swelled up to a size far too disproportional to the rest of his body.

"You idiot! I was the one who found you! Know don't dodge the question, why did you steal the Scroll!"

Naruto looked confused, and answered, "Oh this? I was about to get to that. I mastered a jutsu, does that mean that I pass, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka was confused by the seemingly non-sequiter, but then he realized something. There was no way his dim student would have been able to do this by himself. Slightly worried, he asked his student an important question. "Naruto, who told you that this would let you pass?"

Naruto, missing the foreboding in Iruka's voice, just answered in an overly loud voice. "Oh, it was Mizuki-sensei! That doesn't matter right now. Does this mean that I am a genin now?"

Just as Iruka was going to answer and dash the hopes of the blonde genin hopeful, he pushed Naruto to the ground just as he was hit by a flurry of kunai that pinned him to the side of a conveniently placed shed. When he looked up, he saw the face of his co-worker.

Mizuki was standing on the branch of a tree with two fuma shuriken on his back. He had a slightly insane look in his eye, and started talking to Naruto.

"Well done Naruto, now all you need to do is give me the scroll and you pass."

Iruka, finally having the last pieces fall into place, yelled a desperate command to the confused child. "Naruto, get out of here! Mizuki lied to you! There is no make-up exam! Mizuki used you to get to the scroll!"

Naruto was starting to panic a little. Before he could decide on a course of action, Mizuki began to talk to Iruka as he pulled one of the fuma shuriken off of his back. "Isn't it a little ironic that you say that I am lying to the brat when this entire village had been lying to him since he was born?" With this, he turned his attention to Naruto. "Naruto, do you know the real reason why the village hates you?"

To Naruto, this was the one question that he wanted answered ever since he was a child. The Hokage would always tell him that he didn't know and that he should forgive the villagers for there ignorance. The aged leader had told him that he should rise above their hate and show them how good of a person he is. Despite all the advice he got from his grandfather figure, Naruto was still curious about what his sensei had to say.

"Wh-what? You know? Tell me why they hate me."

"Well, it was twelve years ago when the Kyuubi no Kitsune had attacked Konoha. The official story is that the Yondaime Hokage killed the beast, but it is not true. No one could kill the fox, so he did the next best thing. He sealed the fox into you. You are the Kyuubi, and do a favor and die right now!"

With his little story finished, Mizuki threw his fuma shuriken, aiming to bisect Naruto horizontally. Naruto could only sit there dumbly as everything that had happened to him since he was a child finally made sense.

"_So that's why all of that happened. The loneliness, the hate, the beatings, the refusal of basic services, everything. Is it true? Am I just a demon?"_

Naruto was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he did not notice the weapon of death soaring towards him. What he did notice was the blood that was splattered across his face. When he looked up, he was astounded when he saw the pain-filled face of Iruka. After getting over his speechlessness, he questioned his beloved sensei.

"Iruka-sensei, why? Why did you save me?"

Iruka tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace as he tried to suppress the signals of pain that was sent to his mind. "I saved you because we are the same. When I was younger, I would always act out, trying to get the attention of others. I wound up as the dead last myself. I couldn't let you die. You are important to me."

Naruto was going through a lot of emotional turmoil. Before he could be overcome by his emotions, the blonde took the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and placed it on his back. He turned around, and rushed off into the forest.

"NARUTO!" Iruka called out after his former student. He tried to get his attention, but failed. At this moment, he grabbed the fuma shuriken sticking out of his back and threw it back at the traitor and rushed off into the forest in pursuit of the blonde troublemaker. Mizuki effortlessly dodged the weapon before chasing after his two targets.

Inevitably, Mizuki caught up with Naruto. He was henged as Iruka, in hopes that that would be enough to trick him.

"Naruto, throw me the scroll! We need to get it away from Mizuki."

Instead of receiving the scroll like Mizuki expected, he received a head butt to the stomach. He crashed into the ground and rolled up against a tree. He gritted his teeth as a cloud of smoke enveloped him, revealing his true appearance. He glared at the person he hated the most in the world and questioned him. "How did you know that I was not Iruka?"

The blonde gave a smug grin until he collapsed on the ground as a similar cloud of smoke enveloped him. When the smoke cleared, the grinning visage of Iruka could be seen, as if he was mocking him. "Because I am Iruka."

Mizuki noted that Iruka was spent of energy, so he staggered to his feet and pulled the other fuma shuriken off of his back. "Why do you want to protect the demon that killed your parents anyways? It will probably use the scroll to become more powerful and then seek revenge on Konoha!"

"You are right, that is the kind of thing that the demon would do."

Naruto, who was sitting on a nearby branch, started to cry. He knew that it was too good to be true. Not even Iruka-sensei cared for him. His spirits, however, were lifted when Iruka finished his statement.

"But that is Naruto, the Number One most Surprising Knucklehead of Konoha. He would give his life to save his comrades, and I am proud to call him my student."

By this point, Naruto was shedding tears of joy. There was once again someone who believed in him. Just as he was about to celebrate, he heard something that infuriated him.

"I was going to let you live, Iruka, but it seems that I will have to kill you. You have impeded my efforts one time too many!" Mizuki raised the shuriken and was about to release it when a fist collided with his face, throwing him off of his feet. When he recomposed himself, he was greeted with the angry face of Naruto.

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei, or I will kill you!"

Mizuki found this extremely funny. "Ha! You, an academy failure, beat me, a chunin of Konoha! Get real!"

Naruto answered by simply crossing his the index and middle fingers of both of his hands into the shape of a cross and yelled out the name of the jutsu that he learned from the scroll. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

The result was impressive. In ever direction as far as the eye could see, clones upon clones were present. They all raised their fists into their hands at the same time and cracked their knuckles.

"Charge!"

Once this command was given, all the clones rushed forward with a battle cry and started to pummel the chunin instructor that was frozen in shock and awe. After the clones had finished their job, all that was left was the bloody mess that was hardly identifiable.

Iruka was flabbergasted. _"To master a jutsu of that difficulty in just one hour of practice, he truly will become Hokage one day."_

After snapping out of his reverie, he called to Naruto. "Hey Naruto, can you come over here for a second? Close your eyes as well."

His student complied, and stood right in front of him. Iruka reached up and untied the hitai-ate from his forehead, and tied it to the forehead of the blonde in front of him. After he had done this, he told Naruto to open his eyes.

When Naruto followed the request, he was confused. "Iruka-sensei? What happ-" he was cut off when he reached to scratch his head, but instead hit something metallic. Reaching up he felt the one thing that he was working for for his entire life.

Tears entered the eyes of the young boy. He launched himself at his sensei, and repeatedly thanked him. "Thank you! Thank you Iruka-sensei! Thank you so much!"

Iruka chuckled a little, and spoke. "Okay, settle down, settle down. We still need to go return the scroll and explain everything to Hokage-sama." Naruto visibly deflated at that. "And after that, we can go get some ramen. Does that sound good?"

Naruto beamed at Iruka with one of his megawatt smiles and grabbed the arm of his sensei. he rushed off in the direction of the Hokage Tower, eager to get to his promised ramen.

_**End Flashback**_

He had already been to the Hokage's office, so he was confused as to why he was being called again. As he neared the door of the office, he gave a nod and a smile to the secretary, which was returned with a sneer. Sighing, Naruto pushed open the door of the office.

"Hey Hokage-jiji! I came just like you asked!" To his surprise, the Hokage was not alone in the office. Instead, he was accompanied by four other people, people that the aged Hokage was glaring at.

The first was a man with spiky blonde hair similar to his own. He had bright cerulean eyes, and he was grinning at the boy who had walked in.

The second was a woman standing next to the blonde man who seemed to be slightly younger than the said man. She had unbound crimson red hair that descended to her ankles, and twin violet orbs peering at Naruto with adoration.

The third and fourth people were standing in front of the two people mentioned earlier. They were both girls and they seemed to be the same age as Naruto. One had silky blond hair that fell to her waist and violet eyes while the other had silky red hair that fell to her waist and similar violet eyes to what seemed to be her sister. They wee both staring at Naruto with undisguised curiosity.

After Naruto finished looking over the people in the room, he looked at the Hokage. "Hokage-jiji, who are these people and why is the Yondaime Hokage here? I thought he was dead."

Sarutobi gave one last glare at the crowd beside him and turned to Naruto. The anger in his eyes melted away and was replaced by what looked like regret.

"Naruto, these people are-"

Sarutobi was rudely cut off by the now identified Yondaime Hokage. He strode forward to Naruto, and looked down at Naruto. "Hello Naruto, my name is Minato. The red head is my wife Kushina, and these are my daughters. The blonde is Hikari and the red head is Narumi. We are your family and you are my son.

He heard a soft question, one colored with a tone that sounded almost like disbelief. "Where were you? Why were you not here?"

Sarutobi tried to signal Minato that he should not answer the questions, but the angle that he was facing prevented him from seeing the signals. Like a fool, Minato dove straight in and answered the questions, albeit grimly.

"Well, after we sealed the Kyuubi into your sisters, we needed to get away from the village. We realized that we needed to leave the village for sometime because if Iwa thought that any from my family or I was still alive, they would attack Konoha. We decided to leave you because you would have the easiest time growing up, so Sandaime-sama and I sealed a small portion of the Kyuubi's power into you to make it seem like you were the jinchuuriki. Sandaime-sama promised that you would be well looked after, and your godparents have said that you were doing fine, and that you were growing into an excellent shinobi. We had agreed that we would return in fifteen years when Kushina and I had required our lost powers and when your sisters will be strong enough to protect themselves. While orange may not be the best color for a shinobi, I am not going to judge. All I request is that you forgive your family for leaving you alone for the first fifteen years of your life, but we are here now and that is all that matters."

Minato looked at Naruto as if he was expecting Naruto to leap into his arms with a cry of joy. Instead, the look in his son's eyes surprised him. What he was looking at was pure, unadulterated fury.

Naruto looked past his so-called father and directed his fury at the Sandaime. The words he breathed out were quiet, so quiet that the shinobi in the room had to strain to hear it.

"You knew."

He kept muttering that phrase over and over again, each time increasing in volume until he exploded into a scream. "You knew...you knew...you knew...you knew...you knew! You knew!...YOU KNEW THAT THESE BASTARDS WERE MY FAMILY! YOU KNEW AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME!"

Kushina was so shocked that she didn't even reprimand Naruto for cursing.

Naruto suddenly stopped screaming and calmed down. He started speaking in a level monotone that was even more scary to the third fire shadow because it seemed so out of character for Naruto.

"You knew that these..._people_...were my _birth _family, and yet you never told me. All the times that I asked you, you lied to me. When I came to your office, you lied to me. During your visits, you lied to me. When I was starving on the streets like a rat, you lied to me. When I was shivering in a cardboard box wondering if I would live through the night, you lied to me. When I was lying in the hospital after one of the many fox hunts, you lied to me. Tell me old man, is there anything else that has been told to me that is a lie?"

Before the hokage could answer, Naruto cut him off while releasing a laugh. This laugh was nothing like the regular laughter Naruto would have. It was not the laughter of a young boy who found happiness in the smallest things in life. No, it was the laughter of a tired, defeated person who just had everything catch up with them.

"You know what, don't even bother answering that question. I know that it is going to be a lie as well." Naruto reached up to his forehead and untied the hitai-ate and threw it at his former grandfather figure. "And keep that piece of crap as well. There is no point in becoming a shinobi. Why would I want to be a slave to those who hate me? My own family didn't even want me and if what Minato-teme said is true, then my godparents would have rather lied to their faces than spend even a single second with me."

With that, Naruto turned around and left through the door. The people left in the room were too shocked to attempt to stop him.

Minato walked up to the Hokage's desk and picked up the file on Naruto that he neglected to read. He started paging through the papers, looking at Naruto's academic records. What he saw shocked him.

Naruto was the dead last. It didn't make any sense to him. How could he be the dead last with the pedigree that he had and two of the Sannin as senseis? He pulled out a small film crystal that had an analysis of Naruto's skills. He and his family watched it.

What they saw was not pretty. He skills were absolutely abysmal. He fought much more like a drunken brawler than a shinobi when it came to taijutsu, he couldn't even dispel the simplest of genjutsu, and his chakra control was nonexistent when it came to ninjutsu. It didn't help that Tsunade and Jiraiya were never there for him when they said that they were, and that the academy instructors were actively trying to sabotage his education.

Things just got worse when he got to Naruto's medical file. There were hundreds of entries from treatments for poisons to hospitalization for lynchings. The fox hunts were even worse. Shattered collarbone and severed tendons in the ankle. Released the next day. Third degree burns on 90% of his body. Released the next day. Thirteen shattered ribs. Released the next day. Multiple life-threatening lacerations throughout the body with a noticeable one spelling 'Demon' in Kanji. Released the next day. He spent a year's worth of time in critical condition throughout his life, and he was only 15!

Minato turned to the aged leader, a look of fury in his eyes, Kushina being not to far behind. He started to speak in a clipped manner, as if he was trying to stop himself from throttling his predecessor. Kushina wasn't doing much better.

"You said that he was being taken care of. You said that he would be safe. You said that Tsunade and Jiraiya were looking after him. YOU SAID MY SON WOULD BE TREATED HUMAN! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN ALL OF THIS WAS HAPPENING SARUTOBI!"

Sarutobi truly looked older than his real age. All the mistakes that he had made in the last fifteen years were now catching up to him.

"The council wouldn't let me do anything. I wanted to help the boy, but that would have been seen as favoritism, and they would have taken my power away from me. My hands were tied, there was nothing I could do."

At this point, Kushina snapped. "SO! THEY ARE THE FUCKING COUNCIL! THEY HAVE NO POWER! THIS VILLAGE IS A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, NOT A FUCKING DEMOCRACY! YOU LOST YOUR SPINE AND THEY WALKED ALL OVER YOU! TO MAKE IT EVEN WORSE, MY BOY PAID FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE!"

She would have continued screaming, but she felt a small tug on her hand. She looked over, and saw that her daughter Hikari wanted to ask her something.

"Kaa-chan? Is Nii-san going to be alright? I don't want to lose him. I-I l-love him."

Kushina thought that this was the regular sibling love, but she was wrong. Hikari and Narumi had the connection that all triplets had, and it was only strengthened by the presence of the Kyuubi within them. They had seen all Naruto had gone through, and they were astounded when he would just get back up and keep going with that same never give up attitude. They were just starting to come to terms with how they felt for their brother, and then this happens.

Kushina reined in her anger so that she could answer her daughters question. "Don't worry musume, we will get your brother back. The three of you will be on the same team and we will bond like the family that we are. We will get him back. That is a promise, -ttebane."

After she had said her part, she turned back to the only two men in the group who were talking about what Kushina had just said. "If what we saw in the memory crystal was true, then Naruto is not ready to be a shinobi. His skills, to be frank, suck. He would be killed out on his first C-rank mission, and he doesn't have anything special like the Kyuubi's yoki to fall back on."

Sarutobi nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with you. His skills are horrible, but there is nothing I can do about it, for two reasons. The first is that Iruka-kun passed him, and the only way he will be prevented from becoming a genin is if he fails his sensei's test, assuming that he even bothers showing up for team assignments. The second reason is, well, that." He pointed to what was happening behind them.

Kushina was standing there smiling sweetly at the two men. This usually would have been a good thing, except for three things. First, the smile that she had on her face was too good to be true. Second, she was petting the katana that was strapped to her waist. Third and most importantly, she was emitting an aura of death that promised pain to the two of them if they made the wrong decision.

"Minato-kun, am I hearing correctly? I could have sworn that you said that you were going to send my sochi back to the academy where he was hated by the students and senseis alike?"

Minato started to stutter. "O-Of course n-not! W-Why would y-you think s-something ab-absurd like that? H-He will b-be on a t-team no d-doubt!" The blonde adult nudged the old man next to him, and thankfully her understood his cue.

"Yes, he will be on a team with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura under Hatake Kakashi. Don't worry, he will be well taken care of."

Kushina's face twisted into a scowl. "Not good enough. Put Sochi-kun on a team with his sister and I."

The Sandaime rubbed his forehead. "It is not that simple. Kakashi had already been chosen by the council-"

"I don't care if he was chosen by Kami herself! I want my son on my team, or there is going to be hell to pay! Kukukukukukuku..." She started to tap he fingers against each other and if possible, the aura of death around her seemed to intensify.

The Sandaime grew pale. "Well, if that doesn't satisfy you, I have a compromise for you."

Kushina seemed to calm down, and her face seemed to revert back to the sweet smile of death. "Oh really, do tell..."

The Sandaime outlined his plan while the rest of Kushina's family was lined up against the door trying to get away from her. She was a great women, but Minato, Hikari, and Narumi had to agree that Kushina was scary when she got angry.

**With Naruto**

When Naruto had arrived home, he was seething in rage. _"How dare those fools come back after all I have gone through and try to be a family? They even had the nerve to try and act as if nothing bad had happened to me!"_

He managed to calm himself down, and then he thought to himself rationally. _"There is no point of being angry at Narumi and Hikari. They had nothing to do with this, but that doesn't mean that I can't despise them even a little bit. Right now, I just want to stay away from them."_

After he had finished brooding, he laid down on the sorry excuse he had for a bed and tried to get some sleep. That lead to the problem that he was facing right now.

He was extremely hot, and there was a searing pain in his stomach. He would have gone to the hospital if he was a normal person, but he was sure that the doctors would make a copy of the virus that was causing him stomach problems just so that they would have something that would work against him. He started to perspire copious amounts of sweat, so much that it started to make his clothes stick to his skin.

Soon after, his body started to bubble. This was when Naruto started screaming, but he knew the soundproof walls would make sure that no one would be able to hear him. He started to thrash around as he tried to get rid of the searing pain that was coursing through his body.

He staggered to his feet and stumbled to the run down kitchen in order to get some water to sooth his parched throat. The water may not be potable, but anything was worth the risk if it could sooth the pain, oh the horrible pain.

He reached for the cup and struggled to fill it with water from the tap. He brought the cup up to his lips and drank greedily. For a few seconds, it seemed that the water worked, and that the pain was gone.

He was wrong. Once the few seconds of respite were over, the pain came back, much worse than ever before. His face twisted into a mask of pain, and before he could release another scream of pain, his body exploded into a shower of blood. All that was left of Uzumaki Naruto was a giant blood stain on the ground.

Just when it seemed like it was all over, the blood started to trace itself into a pattern on the ground. When the blood had stopped moving, it started to glow a demonic red color as a rift in space and time opened right over the seal. A figure stepped out of the portal and knelt on one knee on the ground.

When the rift had closed, a convenient lightning bolt tore through the sky outside the window, throwing the features of the figure into sharp relief. He was wearing what seemed to be a Roman army-like uniform with a pair of leggings and a shirt in the color black. At the now identified male's throat was a symbol of a spiral, except this spiral was made entirely of straight lines. He had a claymore swords on his back, with two smaller tanto-like swords on his thighs. The strange part was that all three of the blades were layered with various seals. To complete the look, he wore a black waist-length cape.

Two cobalt blue orbs flew open. They were one of the strangest pairs of eyes that this part of the world had ever seen. Not only did the eyes have an ice like quality to them, the pupils were slanted and the sclera was pitch black.

Framing the twin pools of darkness and ice were locks of crimson red hair, the color of blood. The hair had a smooth, silky quality, and it was quite long, especially fora male. It fell nearly to his waist, where it ended slightly above the end of his cape. He lips started to move as he whispered a few words.

"The Immortal Fox Lord, Naruto...lives"

*****END*****

**Well there you have it. I have to admit that I did not put nearly as much effort into this as my other story, and this is more of a plot bunny than anything else. **

**I am opening up a poll on my profile to whether I should continue this story or not. **

**I hope that you like this, and this Naruto will have the same abilities as the Naruto in **_**Blurred Lines**_

**I understand that this chapter may have been littered with clichés, but hey, you don't have to read it. If you want little to no clichés, read my other story, **_**Blurred Lines**_**. **

**If you haven't understood what I have been trying to get you all to do, READ **_**BLURRED LINES!**_

**Story Word Count: 5,187 Words**

**Last Edit: March 8, 2014**


	2. Squads and Shocks

**Yeah, sorry for the long wait for the new chapter. I was more focused on my other story, but here I am with a new chapter. **

**Naruto does not have fire powers, after reading the Naruto manga over the last couple of months, I got a better idea for him. **

The redhead boy was still knelt on one knee on the ground, not having moved from that position since he had landed there a few hours ago. Looking around, he noticed that the walls and ground were still covered in blood, and that it had quickly dried during his rest.

Despite the seemingly useless blood, Naruto extended his right hand and released a pulse of yoki. Almost like magic, the brown stains lifted from the wall and started to liquify, floating over to his hand. When the now crimson blood reached his hand, it started to coalesce into the shape of a ball.

Once this task was completed, he released another pulse of yoki and solidified the ball. Lifting it up, he opened his mouth and dropped the marble sized ball into its depths. Closing his mouth, he chewed on the ball, evident by the crunching noises that originated from his mouth.

This strange action had an effect that no one but Naruto was privy. As he consumed the sanguine orb, memories of his clone flitted through his mind. His brutal treatment in the orphanage was soon followed by his hell on the streets. After that came his permanent residence, which only made it easier for the mobs of the 'Fox Hunts' to find him.

Clenching his fist, Naruto sat down and crossed his legs, carefully sorting through and assimilating the memories. While the memories were horrible and nearly useless to him in almost all applications, they still held vital information that he would need in order to prove his identity.

Naruto spent the rest of the night sitting on the floor, sifting through the memories. He only had a few hours, and he needed to get as much information as he could out of the memories.

_**Next Morning**_

Hikari sighed as she sat in the classroom. Contrary to what people thought, Hikari was more level headed than her sister, who was usually ruled by her passions. The meeting the night before was a disaster.

Her beloved nii-chan hated them, and not without due cause. She still remembered looking into his medical file, and the things that she saw in there scared her. Heck, they kept her up half the night because she would suffer from nightmares.

Looking next to herself, Hikari saw her sister, Narumi. Unlike her, the redhead's thoughts were easier to perceive. If looked at close enough, the guilt and fear could be easily detected on her face.

Just like Hikari, Narumi wanted to be closer to her brother, but she had no idea how to do it. If the performance last night was any indication, Naruto would sooner slit their throats than have anything to do with them. She didn't blame him. If she was in his same situation, she would have done worse, even going as far as assaulting the people who had left her behind.

Narumi released a sigh as she looked over to her sister, and pasted a smile on her face. She was supposed to be the happy one, and now was not the time to get all depressed. She reached over and placed a hand on her blonde sister's thigh, rubbing it in comfort. "Don't worry Hikari-nee, we'll get him back."

Hikari sent a small smile to the redhead, and nodded slightly. Unlike her sister, she knew that getting any kind of positive reaction from Naruto would be an uphill battle. Despite this, she was ready to fight tooth and nail for it. After all, she was an Uzumaki.

After she had finished brooding to herself, she looked around the classroom. Since it was still early, not many people had entered the classroom, but there were seven people who caught her interest. Coincidentally, all seven of them were either clan heirs on in the line of succession.

The first was obviously an Uchiha. If the ink black hair and onyx eyes did not give him away, then the red and white fan crest on his back did. He had his hands steepled in front of his face, and he seemed to be brooding. The one thing that set him apart from the rest of class was his aura. He seemed to exude a sense of superiority, something well earned since he was supposedly the best in the class. Still, he was the type of person that Hikari did not want to her team.

The second was a Hyuuga, if he lavender eyes that lacked pupils were any indication. Unlike the stories that her mother used to tell her, this Hyuuga seemed to be the antithesis of what an ideal member of the clan should be. Instead of being impassive, composed, and slightly arrogant, she seemed to be nervous and withdrawn into herself.

The third was an Inuzuka, without a doubt. He had a fang-like tattoo on both of his cheeks, and his eyes were slitted. His ninken, a small white puppy, was seated on top of his head, napping. Much like the Uchiha, he also exuded an aura of arrogance, but this one seemed to be born out of cockiness. Hikari would not have spared him as much attention as she did if he was not ogling her. The blonde girl's eyes narrowed when she noticed this. If there was one thing that she inherited from her mother, it was her dislike of perverts. She resolved to...teach...the pervert on how to treat a woman at some point in the future.

In a completely unrelated note, said Inuzuka felt a shiver of dread go down his spine, and he had the sudden urge to run screaming out of the classroom. Shaking off the feeling, he stayed in his seat, albeit eyeing the room with more caution.

Sitting next to the Inuzuka was the fourth, an Aburame, and he was the complete opposite of the boy sitting next to him. He wore a jacket that covered everything up to the bridge of his nose, and wore a pair of shades that hid his eyes. He personified stoicism, and seemed to be trying to call the least amount of attention to himself. Should someone had listened closely to him, they would hear a faint buzzing sound about him, not unlike that of a hive of insects.

The fifth was a Yamanaka. Much like the rest of the clan, she was a blonde, albeit a platinum one. Other than the fact that she was a clan heiress, there was nothing special about her. Looking at her one more time, Hikari's nose wrinkled in disgust. It had only taken her one look, but she was able to tell right away that the Yamanaka was a fangirl. The signs of dieting was obvious with her thin build, and she was wearing clothes that held more of an aesthetic value rather than a practical one. This, coupled with her lack of muscle tone, almost guaranteed that she would die during her first mission outside of Konoha.

The sixth was an Akimichi. Unlike the rest of his clan, he was fat rather than muscled, and he was constantly eating a bag of potato chips. Other than the few clan jutsu that he probably knew, he had no value as a shinobi. The abundance of fat would equate a lack of stamina and speed, which would make him rather useless on the front lines.

The seventh and final was a Nara. His hair was pulled up into the signature pineapple ponytail, and he had his head on the table, sleeping. Despite his lazy demeanor, he was obviously as smart, if not smarter, than the rest of his clan. He would make an excellent tactician in the future, once he got the necessary experience.

As Hikari finished reviewing the promising members of the class, she began to personally evaluate each of them. Once she was finished, she came to the conclusion that the Uchiha, Aburame, and Nara would be the greatest threats to her, and that they had the highest likelihood to attain the rank of chunin. Considering that the graduated class numbered thirty strong, the thought was kind of depressing.

Not for the first time, Hikari was glad that she was not raised in Konoha. Sure, she was sad and enraged that her brother was treated horribly, but at least she did not grow up to become a fangirl, like the rest of her graduating class.

Done with her task, Hikari leaned forward and rested her head on the table, desiring to take a nap. Her team would be announced today, and she needed to preserve all the energy that she could for the upcoming test that her parents were hinting. Looking next to her, she noticed that Narumi had the same idea, and then sank into the comforting embrace of Morpheus.

**Hokage****'****s Office**

Minato sat behind the Hokage's desk, with his predecessor seated next to him. After their verbal fight the night before, the older man chose to resign and give his position back to his successor. As he put it, he was 'just to old for this shit'.

The blonde kage had eleven jonin that lined up before him. Usually there would only be ten, but his wife's very...convincing...argument from the night before had him add her to the list, if only to maintain the health of his manhood. He was till young, and he had to desire to be separated from it.

On the desk in front of him was a crystal glass orb, the one that the Sandaime used for his famed Tōmegane no Jutsu. Using this, he was able to view what was happening in the classroom. Much to his sadness, Naruto had not shown up yet. His two daughters were seated next to each other, and he wanted nothing more than his only son to be there with the two of them, laughing and having fun.

Looking up at the jonin in front of him, he gave a slight nod as he began to address them. "You all know whom your teams consist of, so I expect you to pick them up by noon. Am I understood?" After a rousing chorus of 'Hai Hokage-sama', nine of the jonin departed, leaving behind his wife and another man younger than him. This man had spiky gray hair and wore a mask that covered much of his lower face. To complete the look, he had a hitai-ate that covered his left eye. This person was Hatake Kakashi, one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi.

Realizing that the meeting was now over, Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out an orange book. Ignoring the small killing intent (KI) that was directed at him by the only woman in the room, he started to read the book as his sensei started to address him.

"Kakashi, you do realize who your team is going to be right?"

Not even bothering to look up from his book, Kakashi answered. "Hai. I got gaki-Kushina, sunshine, the kid with the orange fetish, and the brooder, correct?"

Ignoring the look of anger that crossed Kushina's face, Minato replied. "Hai. So are you going to pick up your team soon? I heard that you have a notorious reputation for being late for anything that is not of B-ranked importance or higher."

This time, Kushina broke into the conversation, and started to talk in a sweet voice. "Oh, don't worry, Kakashi-kun will be on time. It would be a shame if his entire collection of smut books were cut to pieces would it not?"

Understanding the not so subtle threat, Kakashi paled rapidly. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender as he tried to placate the angry redhead."Maa, maa Kushina-sempai, don't worry, I will be on time. I should even have the time to introduce my cute little genin to the wonder of Icha Icha." He finished the statement by closing his one visible eye in an eye smile and giving a thumbs up, a pose that was highly reminiscent of the Nice Guy pose.

Apparently, this was not the right thing to say as the KI that was being directed at him spiked to exorbitant levels. When he opened his eyes to located to source of the feeling of death, he saw an angry redhead looking at him, her hair separated into nine parts highly reminiscent of tails as it swirled about her. The near demonic visage was completed by the black aura of death that surrounded her.

Paling rapidly, Kakashi made a move and dashed out of the room, intent on escaping what he saw as a mad woman. Even as he tried to make his getaway, he was chased by the crimson haired mother, as she spewed threats after him. "Get back here you damn pervert! You aren't getting away from me! If you dare corrupt my children, you'll wake up with your manhood missing"

Instead of slowing down or stopping, this declaration only seemed to spur Kakashi on as he tried to pick up speed in a desperate attempt to escape his sensei's wife. He knew that should she catch him, then he would be in for a world of pain.

**Academy**

The click of a door opening shocked Hikari out of her nap. After regaining her bearings, she reached over and gently shook her sister awake. Both of them now, properly alert, they sat at their desks and waited as they eyed Iruka walk into the room and stand in front of the class.

When the teacher got to the front of the class. He cleared him room. "Class, settle down"

The class either ignored him or seemed to have been unable to hear him. Given how loud the noise in the room was, either explanation could have been the case.

When Iruka noticed that the class did not hear him, a small tick mark formed on his head. He repeated his statement with a little bit of agitation. "Class, settle down."

The second attempt was only rewarded by an inexplicable increase in the volume of the class.

The tick mark that was on Iruka's forehead grew in size and started to throb. Irate, his head swelled to a comical size, and blew up. "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF BRATS!"

This got the attention of the newly-graduated genin. The class as a whole planted themselves in their seats and closed their mouths, some of them staring in fear and wariness at the the sensei that they had for the last six years.

Hikari chuckled inwardly when she saw this. Seeing the others react like this amused her for some odd reason. Narumi stared in in disguised awe at the teacher, resolving to irritate him until he showed her the secret of that jutsu.

Coughing into his fist, Iruka started to address the class. "Thank you. Today, I am glad to say that you all have become official shinobi of Konoha, it will be your jobs to carry the Will of Fire and..."

Iruka was so absorbed in his speech that he failed to notice that the class was starting to lose interest. By the time he finished his speech and looked up, the class had devolved into groups of children who were engaged in their own activities. Shikamaru was asleep with his head on his desk, and Kiba was throwing pencils at the sleeping Nara. Shino seemed to be paying attention, but soft snores could be heard emanating from his jacket. Hikari and Narumi were conversing with each other about who their sensei could possibly be. The only person who was paying even an iota of attention was Sakura, who was dutifully taking notes verbatim of what Iruka was saying.

Another tick mark formed on Iruka's forehead. Instead of blowing up at his students for ignoring his carefully prepared and superb speech, Iruka just released a sigh and pulled out a piece of paper. "Well, since you all seemed so riveted to my speech, I will just go ahead and announce the teams."

It was as if a switch was flipped in the class. The green shinobi all desisted from their various activities and gave their undivided attention to their erstwhile sensei. Smiling slightly in amusement, Iruka cleared his throat and started to read off of the list.

Unknown to the entire congregation, and figure landed outside the window of the classroom. The person was clothed completely in black, and watched the events of the classroom with slight interest. He knew that he had to be here, and he was interested in the compositions of the teams.

"...and Team seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki-Namikaze Hikari, Uzumaki-Namikaze Narumi, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Your senseis will be Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina."

Before Iruka could continue reading the list, he was interrupted by an uproar from the class. Some of the girls were complaining about not being on Sasuke's team, while some of the boys were complaining about Sasuke having all the good looking girls on his team. This, however, was nothing compared to the explosion of complaints when the name of the final member of the team registered in their minds.

Cries of disbelief rang throughout the class. Some of the students were wondering why the class dobe was allowed on a team when he had clearly failed, while others were complaining about the fact that the dobe got the best team.

While all this was happening, Hikari and Narumi were sitting in their seats and frowning. They knew that their brother was not the most liked person in the class, but this was ridiculous. The others seemed to be frothing at the mouth facing the fact that Naruto had passed. Any further, and they looked prepared to crucify him.

This time, Iruka could not contain his anger. "SHUT UP!". When the class had calmed down, he continued. "Thank you. If you have a problem with the teams, take in up with Hokage-sama. He was the one who made the teams." Iruka raised the list back up to his face and continued to read.

"Team eight will be Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai." The members of the newly dubbed Team 8 looked at each other and gave a slight nod, a timid one in the case of Hinata. "Team 9 is still in circulation from last year. Team ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. Your senseis will be here soon enough." Ino was about to open her mouth and complain about the teammates that she had received, but resisted when she received a withering glare from Iruka.

Done with his task, Iruka walked out the door. A few minutes later, the door was reopened, and a group of jonin walked in. After taking their teams away, only team seven, team eight, and team ten were left in the room.

Narumi was about to set her head on the table and take a small nap when a shadow enveloped her desk. Looking up, she saw Hinata looking down at her, her figures pressed together in a shy manner.

"A-ano N-Narumi-s-san, w-where i-is N-N-Naruto-k-kun?" Her face turned an interesting shade of crimson when she had said this.

Narumi flinched slightly but then her face adopted a confused look and she answered the inquisitive clan heiress. "I don't actually know. Naruto-nii seemed very angry yesterday, so I thought that it would be better if I only talked to him today."

When Hinata had heard this, she gave a small nod and went back to her team, with her mind whirring. Naruto was actually angry enough to scare someone away. She had never seen Naruto get like that before, even when he was constantly ridiculed and beaten by all the kids in the academy.

When she had gotten back to her seat, the silence in the room was interrupted by the door opening. Through the opening walked in two people, a male and a female. The female, a woman who looked to be in her twenties with raven locks and crimson eyes was accompanied by a slightly older looking bearded man with dark blue hair and a cigarette hanging lazily from his mouth.

The woman looked sharply at team eight and called out to them. "Team eight, my name is Kurenai. You may address me as sensei. Meet me at training ground eight in fifteen minutes."

Shino, Kiba, and Hinata scrambled out of the room as they headed to the assigned training ground. The area in question was a good distance away, and they needed all the time that they had to reach their destination in a timely manner as well as conserving as much energy as possible.

With this terse statement, the woman departed from the classroom with a classic shunshin in an explosion of smoke. When the cloud had cleared away, the older man sighed and dropped his cigarette to the floor, grinding it out with his heel. "Team ten, you are with me. Let's go get some food to eat." After saying his part, the jonin turned around and walked out the door, expecting his students to follow him.

When Choji heard the mention of the word 'food', his eyes immediately transformed into stars and a wide smile split his face. He dashed after his sensei, intent on eating all the barbecue he could and have his sensei pay for it. The second to walk out of the room was Ino, who walked out with no small amount of exasperation in her step. Finally, Shikamaru was the last to exit the room, having been forcibly awoken by the sudden exodus of his porky friend.

The only ones left in the vicinity were the members of team seven. Sasuke was sitting at his desk and looking at the far wall in his desire to brood while his pink-haired teammate was continually badgering him for a date, but to no avail. Narumi and Hikari were talking to each other about their expectations for the team and the horrors that they would face at the hands of their mother while avoiding the touchy subject of their brother. Finally, the shadow outside the window quietly slid the window open and sat on the window sill, the rest of the team still completely oblivious to his presence. Now that he was inside the classroom, the male could be easily identified as Naruto, the final member of the team.

Minutes ticked by, and some of the people in the classroom were starting to become agitated. Sakura did not even try to hide her irritation as a tick mark formed on her forehead and her eyebrow started to twitch. Sasuke was more subtle with his expression of annoyance, nothing more than an irritated glint appearing in his eye. The two daughters of the Hokage were not much better than the brooding Uchiha, but their irritation was overcome by their worry for their brother. Naruto himself was seated on the window sill with his eyes closed, none of the people in the room any wiser to his presence.

When the clock marked one hour from when the other teams had left, a crashing sound was heard from outside the room. Four of the five genin inside the classroom tensed themselves as they prepared themselves for battle, and grew slightly nervous when the door slammed open.

Through the opening came a beautiful red-haired woman, but her beauty was marred by the deep scowl on her face. This scowl was aimed at the spiky gray-haired jonin sitting tied up next to her, still shamelessly reading the smut that he called literature in front of her despite the glare that she sent his way.

Irate, Kushina did not even take her eyes off of Kakashi before she barked out an order. "Team 7, meet us on the rooftop in five minutes! If any of you are late, you'll be running laps until I say stop!" With this terse command, Kushina grabbed her co-sensei and shunshinned to the roof, not even stopping to check if her students were moving, or even if all of them were there.

Sakura, not wanting to earn the ire of the 'scary person' ran out the classroom and went for the stairs, her fear of the redhead temporarily overriding her disturbingly deep infatuation for the onyx-eyed boy on the team. She was shortly followed by Sasuke, who despite wanting to reach his destination in a timely manner, went at a sedate pace. In accordance to his pride, he would not lower himself to the level of rushing out of a classroom like some hooligan. Narumi and Hikari gave a look to each other. Both of them instinctively followed their mother's command, having trained under her long enough to know that not listening to her would cause bad things to happen. Despite this, both of them were worried about Naruto. They still had not heard nor seen him since the night before, and now their hyperactive imaginations were coming up with ideas of what could have happened to him, the scenarios becoming progressively worse as each one followed its predecessor through their minds.

In their rush to get out of the classroom, none of the four of them noticed Naruto climb out of the window and leap up to the roof, landing in one of the trees on the roof. He got comfortable in his spot, his arms crossed over his chest with left leg crossed over his right and peered down at his two soon-to-be 'senseis'

Naruto did not understand why he was doing this. Sure, he had nothing better to do until tonight, but surely there were better things to do than this. He could be practicing his swordplay, he could he training physically, he could be bashing his head against a wall, he could even be ripping out his own intestines...

It is safe to say that Naruto did not want to be here. He settled for the fact that the meeting might prove to be a little amusing, if that death glare the redhead was sending the masked jonin was anything to use as reference.

Before he could continue his thinking, the door to the roof was thrown open and in came a panting Sakura. She stumbled in exhaustion and eventually collapsed onto the ground near the two jonin, panting as she tried to recover any amount of her minute chakra reserves as they waited for the others to come.

Naruto looked down at this girl with contempt. She was supposed to be a warrior, yet she is already drained from the short travel? Clearly Konoha had low standards for its shinobi program, or this girl was just cannon fodder. Considering what he had seen so far, the redhead sword wielder was more inclined to believe the first theory. Naruto dismissed the girl. She would die during her first mission outside of the village.

When he finished musing about the pathetic pink-haired girl, the through the door came Sasuke. He carefully walked to where the two jonin were, and slowly sat himself down, as if he was trying to keep a proper decorum for his status in the village. The Uchiha gave one look to the jonin before dismissing them and resuming what he was doing in the classroom, mainly brooding.

Naruto also frowned at this one. Unlike Sakura, this one had some skill, but not enough to act like the way he was. Sasuke was a fresh genin, and the two in front of him were seasoned jonin. He should have been weary of them, not dismissive. Normally Naruto would think that Sasuke was a fool, but he had seen the memories of his clone. The black-hair boy was not afflicted with ignorance, but arrogance. He would also die on his first mission outside of the village, if only because he had underestimated his opponents.

Finally, the last two had come through the door, his 'sisters' Narumi and Hikari. They walked in confidently before making their way over to the group and sitting down while eying the jonin wearily. Naruto approved of this. While the both of them were more skilled than the Uchiha, they had none of the arrogance that he had, only confidence in their abilities.

Naruto honestly had no idea what to think of his sisters. He knew that his sisters were determined to bring him into the family, but he had no emotional connection to them, whether it be love or hate. He felt nothing for them. He continued to ponder what he should do as Narumi and Hikari sat down.

When all of them were seated, Kushina cleared her throat. Both Kakashi and she had heard Naruto land in the tree earlier without making a scene, but that was not what surprised them. No, what surprised them was that they could not sense Naruto. If it was not for him making that sound when he landed in the tree, they would not have noticed him at all! Considering that the day before he had been spewing chakra like a burst pipe, this change was quite disconcerting.

"Well, I want all of you to introduce yourselves to each other. You know, your name, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams."

Before she could point to someone to start, she was rudely interrupted by the only pink-haired kunoichi on her team. "Hold on, we deserve some answers! First of all, where the hell were you two? All the other senseis picked up their students an hour ago! Second, where is that baka Naruto? Probably forgot that today was team placement or was too slow to get up here on time, that loser." she jeered.

When Narumi and Hikari heard this, they reacted negatively. Narumi, the more hot-headed one of the two, had to physcially restrain herself from launching herself at Sakura and beating the crap out of her. Hikari gave a glare that promised pain to her so-called teammate. Kushina gave no visible reaction other than the slight twitch of her hand.

Before Kushina could retort, they heard a soft thud of someone landing behind them. When they turned around to see who it was, all six jaws dropped as they gave a gasp of shock in unision.

Standing before them was someone that they recognized to be Naruto, but it was not the happy, blonde, orange-clad idiot that they all had come to know. The most obvious change was his hair. Gone was his iconic sun-kissed blonde hair, replaced by crimson locks that fell to his waist. What was once a painful orange jumpsuit was replaced by admittedly intimidating clothes.

Naruto was clothed in a shirt and leggings of pitch black. On his upper chest near his throat was a dicky that had the engraving of what seemed to be a whirlpool made of straight lines on it. Along his throat was a buckle that offered a modicum of protection to those who would aim for a quick kill. On his shoulders were some spaulders, which gave way to the vambraces that protected his forearms. Invisible to the group was a holder on his back that supported his claymore, the handle of which could be seen peeking over his shoulder. Along his waist were a set of faulds, which led to chausses to protect his legs. The look was completed by some sabatons that replaced the usual shinobi sandles on his feet.

When given a further look, a pouch could be seen attached to his waist, and on both thighs were two tanto-length swords. Kushina's eyes only widened even further when she saw a plethora of seals engraved on the blades.

However, the most striking feature of Naruto was his eyes. Gone were the cerulean blue eyes filled with mischief and innocence. They were now replaced by cold, hard, cobalt blue eyes swimming in twin pools of inky blackness.

Before anyone in the group could say anything, a soft, hard voice could be heard from the figure. "I am here."

The group of six could only keep gaping.

**Word Count: 5,382 Words**

**Well, I am finally done with this. Sorry for not posting in a while, but my life has gotten pretty hectic, and I lost about half this chapter when my computer died on me. **

**Well, you know the drill, read and review. Meaningful reviews, remember that! I don't want the regular 'good job' or some spiel like that. At least put some effort into it!**


	3. Tests and Twists

Narumi and Hikari were walking together in the forest, heading towards Training Ground 7. They were running a little late, but it was understandable. What they had seen yesterday had shocked the both of them to the core. The two of them had been prepared to deal with an angry blonde who wanted to hurt them. They had not expected the apathetic redhead that they were given.

Their mother was doing just as bad as them, if not worse. She had wanted to talk to Naruto once the team members dispersed, but the shock of his appearance coupled with his new personality blew any thought of approaching him out of her mind. After the team had stumbled through their introductions, Kushina told the genin to meet at Training Ground 7 in the morning before leaving, obviously lost to the world.

Minato was unable to come home early so that he could get information out of them, so the three girls were largely left to their own thoughts. There was one thing that stood out prominently in Naruto's introduction, and it was his attachment to someone who he called 'hime'.

That was the disturbing part. According to the Sandaime, there was only one female that Naruto was familiar to that degree to their knowledge, a young woman who ran a ramen stand with her father. After questioning her and learning that the male redhead had never referred to her as hime, they were stumped. They resolved to ask around discreetly when they had the time, hoping too see whether the girl would be good for Naruto or not.

Narumi and Hikari turned to each other and released simultaneous sighs. They leaped up into the trees so that they could pick up their pace. It would not do to show up late on the first day, especially when their mother would give the slightest excuse to assign them more "physical conditioning".

Kushina and Kakashi were at Training Ground 7 waiting for their students to arrive. Against the norm, Kushina was not smiling. Rather, she had a small frown upon her lips. Kakashi had his normal orange book with him, but it was obvious to anyone that knew him that he was not paying attention to it.

Just then, the eyes of the jonin were drawn to the rustling bushes on the other side of the training ground. As they watched, the bushes parted as Naruto walked onto the training ground.

Giving him the standard once over, Kushina's eyebrows furrowed as she picked up a detail that she had realized yesterday, but had not hit her until now. Naruto was taller and better developed than when they had first met him. During the night in the Hokage's office, even Kushina had to admit that he looked like a shrimp. His height was only at a pitiful 4'9", and his diet that consisted mainly of ramen made sure that he would not receive the necessary nurtrients in order to achieve the proper build and health for his profession.

Now, however, it looked like Naruto had aged ten years. He looked like he was in his early- to mid-twenties, and his athletic build was easily discernible through his clothes that did little to hide his body. The build actually complemented his height of 5'11".

His head had gone through the greatest amount of change out of all the parts of his body. Discounting his eyes, it looked like his genes had decided to flip. Whereas before he had Minato's spiky blonde hair and Kushina's round face, he now had her flowing crimson locks and Minato's more narrow face. Kushina did not want to admit it, but the new look made him look more feminine than before. She would go as far as to call him beautiful with the feminine touches to his visage. It actually caused Kushina to cringe slightly, knowing that she had helped produce a boy who looked even more girly than Minato, if that was possible.

As Kakashi and Kushina watched on, Naruto strolled to a tree near them and unsheathed his claymore. Instantly on guard in case he attacked them, the two jonin slightly relaxed themselves when Naruto stabbed the great sword into the ground and sat down, resting his back against the tree. Kushina mentally berated herself when she realized what she was doing. She might be a seasoned kunoichi, but it was no reason to doubt her son like that. It certainly wouldn't earn her any brownie points with the enigmatic redhead, which would only make it even more difficult to get close to him.

The three of them continued their activities as they waited for the rest of the team to arrive, whether it would be reading smut, studying a student, or resting against a tree, semi-alert to the outside world.

An hour later, the entirety of team seven had congregated at the appropriate training ground. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Kushina coughed into her fist, preparing herself to talk.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, we can start on the survival training." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out two silver bells, an action that was copied by Kakashi. "Your job is to take one of the bells from us. If you manage to do so, then you will pass."

Before she could continue, she was interrupted by the pink-haired genin on her team. "Um, sensei, there are five of us on the team, but there are only four bells. What happens to the person who fails to retrieve the bell?"

Annoyed at being interrupted, Kushina was about to retort with a scathing remark, but the other jonin broke in and answered the question, his iconic eye smile on his face.

"Very good for noticing that Sakura-chan. The four genin who pass the test will form a team under the two of us. The remaining genin will be sent back to the Academy for another year, and hopefully they will do better next year." Kakashi's eye smile never dropped during the explanation.

The change in the mood of the training ground was palpable. Whereas before the atmosphere was serene and calm, it was now tense with the anxiety of four of the genin. Naruto was still resting at the base of his tree, seemingly oblivious to the world. Hikari's eyes widened slightly when she heard this, and next to her, her sister's mouth dropped open in surprise. The resident Uchiha tensed slightly and balled his hands into fists, but did nothing else. His pride would not allow him to do anything else. It was the last genin, however, who expressed her concerns vocally, momentarily forgetting her fear of her female sensei.

"What! But that's not fair! We worked extremely hard to get this far, and now you are saying that it was all for nothing?" Once her mind caught up with her mouth, she had released what she had done and immediately paled.

Rather than being angry, both Kakashi and Kushina smiled melancholic smiles, as if they were remembering something from their pasts. Pulling themselves from their memories, Kakashi put his book away as Kushina confronted her student.

"I am your sensei, and I decide the rules. If you do not like them, then you are free to drop out of the shinobi program. Know your place, _genin_." the last part of the tirade was punctuated with a small bit of killing intent, enough to make Sakura stand down.

Sakura immediately paled further, and seemed to collapse into herself. Properly cowed, she collapsed onto her knees from the sheer fear that had been instilled into herself from the killing intent.

Seeing this, Kushina shook her head in disappointment. The standards of the shinobi academy had really fallen low since her time if this was supposed to be the greatest kunoichi of her year. Her disappointment was replaced by fear when she realized that Naruto was supposed to be the dead last. How much worse were his abilities, when this kunoichi was supposed to be one of the best genin of Konoha?

She was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard Kakashi place a clock on a nearby stump along with four bentos. "You have until noon to take the bells from us. That gives you four hours. The person who fails to retrieve a bell will be tied to a post, and the other four will get to eat these bentos while the failure has to watch. Are there any questions?"

Learning from last time, Sakura kept her mouth shut, not wanting to receive the same treatment as last time. Seeing that no one was making a motion to ask a question, Kakashi continued. "Remember to come at us with the intnet to kill, otherwise you will never get a bell. The test begins now. Go!"

Immediately, the four younger looking genin departed for the woods. All of them, even sasuke, knew that a head on charge against two jonin would be futile. They resolved to find a good hiding place, and ambush the jonin when they had the chance.

Kushina leaped backwards and landed on one of the posts, content on letting her charges come to her. After all, they were the ones beings tested, not her. They were the ones with the time limit. She wouldn't have to do anything if they didn't.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was talking a proactive stance. He scanned the area for his students, and was reasonably content. Hikari and Narumi were were together in a tree one hundred meters to the west. Sasuke was twenty meters to the north, also nestled in a tree.

Sakura's hiding spot was worth a frown. With her only fifteen meters away and on her stomach, she would most likely be unable to react properly in time should he choose to go after her.

However, it was his final student's hiding spot, or lack thereof, that look the cake. He had not made a motion to leave the clearing since the exercise had started, except for standing up and picking the claymore up with his right hand. Now all he was doing was standing there, staring at his opponent.

Kakashi, knowledgeable of his student's profile from the academy, knew that his student was brash and hot-headed, tending to throw reason out the window on a fly. With this in mind, he decided to taunt his student to inflame his anger. Knowing that pulling out his Icha Icha book right now would endanger his manhood via an angry Uzumaki, he decided on a verbal insult.

"Naruto, I know from your grades that you are neither the smartest nor the most skillful shinobi, but you could try to put a little effort into this, otherwise you will not get a bell. What kind of Hokage would you be if you failed a task this simple?" He finished the taunt by projecting a bored look with what was uncovered of his face.

Knowing that Naruto was about to blow up and charge him, Kakashi tensed his muscles in preparation to counter. What came next completely knocked him off guard.

Instead of exploding and charging him like the silver-haired jonin expected, Naruto's eyes only seemed to focus on him, as if he had just realized that Kakashi was there. He opened his mouth and gave a reply that nearly made Kakashi break form and face fault at the sheer irony of the statement.

"Hmm, did you say something?"

While he did not break form, he sill did sweatdrop. _"At least now I know how Gai feels when I use that statement on him."_

Before Kakashi could make a comment, Naruto continued. "To answer your poorly veiled taunt, let me ask you a question. Why would I want to jump into a forest where I would need to worry about attacks from you and Kushina-san, as well as any traps that you may have set during the time you spent here before I had arrived? It does seem stupid. Furthermore, why would you expect me, a genin that barely passed the graduation exam and even then only on a technicality, to be able to hide from not one, but two highly experienced jonin? This only seems to be an exercise in futility, as far as I can see."

Kakashi's face betrayed no reaction, but inwardly he was shocked. Normally, he would only be slightly impressed by this deduction from a genin, but this was Naruto. The kid who was famous for his trusting nature, optimism, and severe lack of intelligence. Hell, his vocabulary seemed limited to the words _hokage _and _ramen_! There was no way that he could be mistrustful and intelligent enough to deduce something of this complexity all by himself!

Repressing his shock for the moment, he decided to further question his student. "So considering that you do not wish to enter the forest, what will you do now? You need to do something in order to get a bell and pass."

Naruto turned around started to walk into the woods. Despite what he had said earlier, he knew that there were no traps in the forest, at least well hidden ones. After all, it would defeat the purpose of the exercise if the team was incapacitated, and they were all supposed to be genin. As he walked away, he threw his answer over his shoulder. "The bells are for those who wish to be part of the Konoha shinobi corps. What if I do not want to be a shinobi in service to Konoha?"

Kakashi stood there completely dumbfounded as he watched the retreating figure of his most confusing student. During his time knowing the former blonde, all the child would ever talk about was becoming a shinobi, and then becoming the hokage some day. What Naruto had just said had completely destroyed the image that Kakashi had for the redhead boy placed on his team.

Kakashi was so shocked that he nearly missed the shuriken that were heading towards him, intending to skewer him. Knocked out of his reverie, Kakashi managed to kawarimi with a nearby log in time. As the log took the hit, he turned around and rushed into the forest, putting his thoughts of Naruto out his mind for the moment. He had a genin team that he needed to test. Due to his hurried departure and cluttered thoughts, he never noticed the redhead woman sitting on the post behind him, a drop of water falling out of the corner of her eye.

Sasuke was frustrated. He thought that he had managed to catch his sensei off guard, but all he had managed to due was hit a log. To make matters even worse, he revealed his location to his enemy. That was the reason why he was rushing through the forest, slightly panting in exertion. He needed to get ready for the inevitable confrontation, the one in which he would be triumphant. After all, he was an Uchiha, an elite of the village. Who else on this team could possibly have more skill than him?

Sakura was tense with apprehension. She knew that she would not be able to get a bell from one of the jonin in a head on charge, so she decided she needed to surprise one of them. That was why she was excited when she saw Kakashi standing in a clearing, seemingly unaware of her presence. Reaching into her pouch, she grabbed a kunai and clasped it tightly in her hand. Regulating her breathing, she exhaled slowly and released the kunai in the direction of her sensei, rushing after it in an attempt to capitalize on her supposed opportunity. As she was running, she ran through a set of hand seals, causing two intangible clones of herself to appear next to her. As she approached her still immobile sensei, she cocked her fist back, ready to punch Kakashi.

When Kakashi had entered the clearing, he had immediately detected Sakura, but made no outward reaction to her presence. Instead, he had waited for her to make the first move.

What he had gotten was a disappointment. Did the girl honestly believe that she would be able to catch him off guard with a single kunai and a head on charge at speeds that were not nearly acceptable for a genin? The use of the bunshin was another sign of her ignorance, as the technique in its lonesome had zero battle applications.

Kakashi brought his hand up and swiftly caught the kunai. When the Sakuras reached him, he easily discerned the real one and lifted his foot up, kicking her in the stomach. This caused her to be launched back in the direction she came from, making her back collide with a tree, which managed to drive the remaining air out of her lungs. To finish things, he threw the kunai at her, burying the blade into the tree at a point just above her head.

When Sakura looked up, she let out a tiny squeak. Buried just inched above her head was her kunai, which had come so close to ending her life. When the fact registered in her mind, she fell apart. Completely terrified, she got up and rushed back into the forest, completely disregarding stealth. All she could think about was putting as much distance as she could between herself and the monster that nearly cut her life short.

Now that she was a good distance away, she stopped to take a deep breath, cursing her poor stamina. Taking a look around, she was gladdened to see that she had managed to shake her 'pursuer'. Letting out a sigh of relief, she was about to sit down and relax when she felt a tap on her shoulder from above. Looking up, she came face to face with the masked face of the one she was trying to escape. Overcome with fear and unable to do anything productive, she did the only thing she could do.

Sakura released a piercing scream, one that tore through the forest and startled the nearby birds into flight from the training ground. The shock and fear etched on her face was more than enough to make her faint.

Kakashi, who bore witness to this spectacle, sweatdropped. Scratch Sakura having inadequate abilities. She was nowhere prepared for the shinobi world! If her performance was anything to go by, then it seemed that the sharingan wielder would be failing another team this year. Kakashi shrugged. At least he would have more time for his Icha Icha.

Leaping away, he locked onto Sasuke's chakra signature. He was by no means a sensor nin, but he did pick up a few tricks during his tenure of service in the ANBU. It was time to see if the Uchiha scion, and more importantly, Obito's last relative in Konoha, would live up to his hype.

Back in the clearing with the posts, Kushina was seated with a small, happy smile on her face. What was the cause of this happiness, one may ask? Simply put, the answer was on her lap. In front of her was the food of the Gods, the delicacy to end all delicacies, the paragon of all that was good and true in the world.

Ramen.

Usually Kushina would not eat during a time as important as this, but she needed her comfort food after what she had heard her son say. She tried to bottle it, but what he said had hurt. She knew that he had gone through hell, but it had turned her boy in a cold cynic like this?

As she sat down indulging her addiction, the two siblings were crouched on a branch of a nearby tree, out of sight. The two of them wanted to get a bell, and decided that working together would make the goal at least slightly easier. While there mother was eating, they were plotting to get the bells from her.

"Nee-chan, what do we do? Kaa-chan is scary powerful, this plan must be foolproof, otherwise he will fail." Narumi's face morphed into one of horror before she continued. "Worse, Kaa-chan might prank us!"

Hikari shuddered when she heard this. Growing up, she heard stories from her mother about all the pranks that she had pulled when she was younger. She did not want to be on the receiving end of one of those legendary pranks, especially after seeing what her mother had done to her father.

Even to this day, Minato could not look at an egg beater the same way without shivering.

Turning to her sister, she gave a sinister smile. "Don't worry Narumi-chan, Onee-chan has a plan." Waving for her to come in closer, she started to detail her plan. As she spoke, Narumi's eyes grew larger and larger until they greatly resembled dinner plates.

"Are you insane, nee-chan? Kaa-chan will destroy us for doing something like that! I thought I was the one who was supposed to come up with all the stupid and crazy ideas between us!"

Patting her on the head as if she was trying to placate an animal, Hikari continued. "Don't worry, Narumi-chan. Just follow the plan, and we should be able to get a bell. After all, when have I ever steered you wrong?"

Hesitatingly agreeing, Narumi placed her right hand over her left arm and pumped chakra into a seal. A puff of smoke erupted, and when it cleared, two bracers could be seen. Attaching these bracers to her arms, the glove-like device covered the entirety of her forearms. They lead up to her hands and crossed over her knuckles, providing her with extra protection and power for her fists.

This was Narumi's favorite weapon to use. Due to her nature, Narumi had neither the patience nor the grace to be a sword user. Instead, her kaa-chan had given her these bracers as a present for her eighth birthday. Much of the tool was covered with seals, allowing her to do many things, whether it was to protect herself or channel chakra. They even had seals that made them nigh indestructible. How cool was that? Because of this gift, the energetic redhead was able to fight people her favorite way-by pummeling them with her fists into submission.

While Narumi was adjusting her battle gloves, Hikari mirrored her sister's earlier action. After the cloud of smoke had disappeared, the level-headed blonde could be seen holding a violet katana.

Unlike her sister, Hikari had a talent with a sword, something that Kushina had picked up on early, and nurtured with her harsh training. Because of this, the violet-eyed girl had been given her own katana, one that she hoped to surpass her mother with one day in the future.

After looking over her sword to make sure that it was in proper condition, she looked at her sister, giving her a nod, a signal showing that she was ready. Narumi took a deep breath, and gave a nod back.

Hikari turned around and went into the forest, preparing what she needed for their plan. Narumi reached into her hip pouch and clenched three shuriken between her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she threw the shuriken at her mother, racing after them.

Back on her post, Kushina heard the low whistle of the ninja tools heading in her direction. Knowing that her break was over, she stretched out her hand and caught the shuriken before throwing them at the ground. Usually she would have dodged, but then the ninja tools would have hit her unfinished bowl of ramen that she wanted. The loss would have been a waste.

When the shuriken had hit the ground, Kushina leapt off the post and hit the ground, just in time to catch a punch from Narumi. She then proceeded to push her daughter's fist out of the way before lashing out with her foot, intent on launching the younger redhead away.

Narumi managed to pull both of her hands back to her chest in order to catch her mother's foot. Despite successfully blocking the attack, Narumi was pushed back a bit while grunting in response ti the force behind the kick. She knew her mother was holding back, but she also knew that she was not going to have an easy time.

Knowing that direct combat with one of the most powerful people in Konoha would be idiotic, Narumi used the momentum from the kick to push off of Kushina, and launch herself a good distance away.

While her daughter was sailing away, Kushina was not idle. Instead of waiting for Narumi to land she pushed her advantage and chased after the girl. When Narumi saw this, she inwardly smirked. The plan was already working.

As Narumi was distracting her mother, Hikari was tree hopping. When she had first left her sister, Hikari started to travel in a circle, making sure to stay just beyond the sensing range of the jonin. By the time she saw Kushina chase after Narumi, Hikari had already been in position to attack. Now all she had to do was wait for the perfect opening to make her strike and finally defeat the elder redhead, even if it was not a regular sparring match.

The blonde hoped that the opening would occur soon. Every second that she stayed in her hiding place was another second that Kakashi could use to find her. If that happened, then her entire plan would fall apart.

As Hikari was worrying, Narumi was extremely sore. She might arguably be the most powerful genin next to her sister, but that was nothing compared to her mother. She was painfully aware that the only reason she was not knocked out yet was because Kushina was content with playing with her, pushing her to her limits.

Kushina, seeing that her daughter was exhausted, taunted her, hoping to dig out that reserve of energy that she always had hidden within herself. "What's wrong, Narumi-chan? Are you tired already? You haven't even managed to land a good hit on me! Maybe I have been too easy on you recently." She finished this with a look of mock disappointment before her face lit up, as if a great idea had just formed in her head. "I know! You won't get any ramen today! Maybe that is the reason why you made such a bad performance today!" She complemented this by pounding her fist into an open hand with her eyes closed, nodding to herself.

When Narumi heard the first part, she gritted her teeth in anger, but managed to keep her temper in check. Many of her sparring matches had ended with her defeat because she had given into her anger. However, when she had heard the second part, she froze. NO ONE, and she meant NO ONE, was allowed to touch her ramen. Her father had learned the hard way that she had inherited her mother's temper when he had accidentally thrown away her ramen a few years ago.

Interestingly enough, after that event she learned how much force was need to break a rolling pin.

Kushina smirked when she felt the killing intent explode from Narumi. If there was something that she shared with her daughters, it was her extreme love, borderline obsession, with ramen. Minato knew not to mess with her ramen. At least, he knew that after what she had done to him when he called her beloved ramen cheap soggy noodles.

He seemed to have gotten the message after she persuaded him about the greatness of ramen. It had nothing to do with the meat cleaver that she held up to his manly bits at the time.

She nodded to herself. Yup, absolutely nothing at all.

Kushina was knocked out of her semi-deranged thoughts when she saw a fist flying at her. Dodging to the left, she proceeded to push the hostile limb out of the way, and followed up with a palm thrust to her daughter's exposed ribs.

Off balance, Narumi could do nothing as Kushina's leg came flying upward , burying itself in the younger redhead's stomach. In response, Narumi went limp and fell to the ground, unable to do anything.

Kushina looked down at the fallen form of her daughter with a triumphant smirk. "Is that all, Narumi-chan? You spent all that time hiding and that was the best plan that you could come up with?"

When she said this, a sense of foreboding settled upon her. Her daughters may be Uzumaki, but even they were predictable in some cases, and this was one of them. When given the chance, Narumi never came up with a plan. Narumi was by no means stupid, but Hikari was the one who came up with the better plans. Hikari was smarter and the better strategist of the two, so where was she?

Looking down at her less mature daughter, she decided to question her. "It seems that even your sister has left you. Where is she, by the way? She couldn't have helped you, that plan was too pathetic to be hers."

Instead of lashing out in anger like Kushina had expected, Kushina was surprised when Narumi started chuckling. The laughter got even louder until Narumi was outright laughing, her body shaking with mirth. Only after some time had she managed to calm down and catch her breath. "Kaa-chan, I love you, but sometimes you can be a real baka. Hikari is the plan!"

Before Kushina could ponder the meaning of what her daughter had said, a voice cried out from behind her, a good distance away. "Freeze, sensei! If you move, then your beloved is going to get hurt!" Turning around. Kushina was treated to a sight that left her speechless and eyes widened in horror.

Hikari was standing at the post that Kushina had abandoned earlier in an effort to engage Narumi. Because of this, she had left her bowl of ramen unattended, something that Hikari had capitalized on.

Kushina could do nothing. Her ramen, her precious ramen, was held in Hikari's hands. The bowl was held above her head, tilted precariously at an angle that nearly had some of the broth spilling over the edge.

Frozen in horror, Kushina did not notice Narumi get off the ground and swipe the bells off of her waist. In fact, she only realized this when Narumi was already halfway back to Hikari, celebrating.

"Yay, we did it Nee-chan! We got the bells! Your plan actually worked!" Narumi was running at Hikari without watching where she was going, so she did not realize until it was too late. Unable to do anything, the two sisters collided with each other, hugging each other and jumping for joy, not seeming like they were going to stop anytime soon.

In fact, they only stopped when they heard the sound of a bowl shattering on the ground.

When the two of them had heard this, they froze in place. Turning around in tandem extremely slowly, they were greeted to the figure of Kushina standing before them with her face shadowed by her hair, the broken bowl of ramen at her feet.

As the girls started to sputter, trying to justify themselves, Kushina's hair started to separate into nine tails, and floated about her head. Her eyes turned completely white, and her mouth formed into a demented smile.

"**Run," **Kushina said in a demonic voice. The two children did not hesitate before turning around and rushing for the perceived safety of the forest. A few minutes later, their screams of pain and an insane cackle could be heard arising from the forest.

In another part of the training ground, Sasuke was waiting for someone to show up. He had been waiting for a while, and neither one of the jonin had shown up. This was not acceptable. He was the rookie of the year and an Uchiha, so the senseis should be stumbling over themselves to come and test him. Surely he would pass, who else could. Sakura had no chance, but the Namikaze twins would pass without a doubt.

When Narumi and Hikari had introduced themselves the other day. He was intrigued. He had never shown an interest in girls, but that was because he did not like weak women. These two were powerful, so he knew that they were potential women to help revive their clan. Their pedigree was impressive, if not comparable to the Uchiha.

Thinking about the Namikaze twins, Sasuke's thoughts drifted to the dobe, Naruto. When the twins first revealed that Naruto was their brother, Sasuke refused to believe it. It was inconceivable that someone with Naruto's heritage could be so pathetic and weak. It was an insult to believe that Naruto was related to the brilliant Namikaze twins in any way, much less the Yondaime. No, Sasuke refused to believe this, so it was the Namikaze twins, not triplets.

The Uchiha scion shivered. That was before so-called dobe had appeared at the team meeting yesterday. Sasuke didn't recognize him at first, but the fact that no one else knew where they were meeting proved his identity. The tall redheaded man was the idiotic, childish dobe that he had known.

The Uchiha still refused to acknowledge him, however. Before, he refused to do so because Naruto was a disgrace. Now, he refused to do so because the male redhead was a monster.

The others way not have noticed it, but he did. The do-_Naruto,_ he reminded himself, was a monster. He seemed to exude the same aura that Itachi did when he slaughtered the Uchiha clan, except to a greater magnitude. It made Itachi seem like a tame five-year old in comparison.

If Sasuke was honest to himself, he was scared. It was as if he was a rabbit quivering in its rabbit hole, and Naruto was an amused rabbit, waiting for Sasuke to come out. Before Sasuke could continue thinking, Kakashi walked into the clearing. Banishing the thoughts from his head, Sasuke resolved to ponder this later when he had less to do. Rushing forward, he prepared to engage the jonin.

Kakashi was disappointed when he saw this. While Sakura was weak for a newly-minted genin, at least she tried to devise a plan, as pathetic as it was. It seemed that Sasuke had spent no time to do this, and Kakashi decided to teach him a lesson.

As the last Uchiha lashed out with a fist, Kakashi blocked tried to push the boy away. Instead, in a display of both flexibility and agility, Sasuke flipped himself over the arm and threw a kunai in his direction. Tilting his head and letting the kunai sail passed his head.

Kakashi shook his head. While this attempt was better than the last one, it still was not enough to get a bell from him. Just as he was going to move to incapacitate his student, he felt a number of kunai imbed themselves in his back.

Just as Sasuke was going to celebrate his victory, the injured form of his sensei turned into a log with kunai imbedded into the bark. Shocked by this, Sasuke could do nothing as the explosive tag on the log blew up, causing him to fly away and crash into a tree.

Before he could recover, he felt two arms grabbing his feet, dragging him into the ground.

If ever questioned about what had happened to him at a future date, Sasuke would claim that he had given a manly grunt. There was no way that he had released a girlish squeak. Yes, no self-respecting Uchiha would ever make such a sound. It was a manly grunt.

When Sasuke's body had finally come to a stop underground, he looked up and saw Kakashi looking down at him, an eye smile on his face. "Well Sasuke-kun, that was a good try, you are different than the others. If that is all you have though, then you won't get a bell. Ja ne!"

Kakashi jumped away, leaving Sasuke simmering in anger. Just as he was leaving, Kakashi had to hold in a chuckle when he heard the frustrated yell coming from the clearing behind him.

Overcoming his mirth, Kakashi heard the distant sound of the clock going off. So it was noon. Kakashi was actually a little relieved about this. He would normally need to go test Naruto, but he could not find him. He could not sense his chakra signature, something that would have been extremely easy only a few short days ago.

Once Kakashi got back to the main clearing of the training ground, he was greeted to a peculiar sight. It seemed that Kushina had already revived Sakura, and the astounding part was the prone forms of her daughters, their bodies combinations of bruises, cuts, and blood. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, there were two distinct trails of smoke arising from their heads.

Shaking this thought off, attributing it to the insane nature of shinobi life, he waited as the brush behind him rustled. Out of the disturbance came Naruto, who was being followed by Sasuke. It seemed that the redhead had managed to make the Uchiha angry, if the glare he was shooting at Naruto was anything to go by.

Once the two of them had joined the group, the five genin sat around the jonin, the two previously injured Namikazes somehow healed. Seeing that Kakashi had their attention, he started talking.

"Well, based on your performances, I am pleased to announce that none of you will be going back to the academy..."

When he had said this, Sakura started jumping up and down, celebrating since they had passed. Sasuke smirked triumphantly, pleased that he had made it. The other three, however, were a different story. Naruto did not seem to care one way or another that they had passed, but Hikari and Narumi were wary. While they had done well enough to pass, there was something wrong. If they knew anything about Konoha, it was that it valued teamwork over individual skills. The fact that Sakura was lacking in both departments, and that Sasuke was too arrogant to even consider the latter meant that Kakashi was not finished, and that he was about to drop a metaphorical bomb.

"...because you all should be dropped from the shinobi program altogether."

Sakura froze and fell to her knees, her hands on the ground, and her head drooped forward, her hair shadowing her face. This was a complete turnaround from how she was before. Sasuke started to scowl heavily, his agitation clear. Hikari and Narumi were confused, but they were willing to let their sensei continue, while Naruto was still seated on the ground, a distant look in his eyes.

Kakashi continued. "Sakura, your performance was probably the worst one that I have seen in a long time. You are supposed to be the kunoichi of the year, yet you broke and ran after your first poor attempt at ambushing me. What could make you possibly think that a regular bunshin would be enough to trick me, a seasoned jonin?"

If possible, Sakura drew even further into herself, ashamed. Twin trails of water could be seen running down her cheeks, but Kakashi did not care. Done with his review for Sakura, he turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, you did well, but you were missing one crucial piece that was needed to pass."

Sasuke was content that he had done well, but he was still angry at the fact that he was going to be failed. He had never failed at anything, and he did not want to start now!

Turning to the last student he was supposed to test, he addressed him. "Naruto, your performance was the worst! At least Sakura put the effort to try and get a bell, yet you did nothing. Where were you the entire time?"

Naruto, snapping out of his daydream, looked up at his sensei. "I was resting."

Normally, Kakashi would have gone into his tirade about teamwork and then mention the memorial stone, but this answer stunned him. Naruto did not even try to defend himself. Instead, he turned to Kushina.

"And how did Hikari and Narumi do?"

Kushina smiled. "They did well, they both worked together, and they managed to get the bells from me, even if they did spill my ramen." Her face briefly flashed with anger, but went back to the smile.

Kakashi turned back to the three that he was admonishing earlier. He did not want to know how his sensei's children managed to spill his co-sensei's ramen, nor did he wish to know. There was no point of poking the sleeping dragon, as they say.

"I will give you three one last chance to pass. You have one more hour to get the bells from me. Come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise you will fail."

Not wanting to waste any time, Sakura and Sasuke immediately ran to the forest together, much to Kakashi's approval. Looking back, his smile disappeared as he noticed that Naruto was still standing where he was before, a contemplating look in his eyes.

Before Kakashi could question why he was still standing there, Naruto questioned him. "So, are you telling me to come at you with the intent to kill? Would you not get hurt if I did that?"

Kakashi's smile returned when he heard that. Naruto may look and act differently, but at his core he was still the brash, arrogant kid that he was before. Kakashi would enjoy taking him down a peg or two. Did he honestly believe that he could take on a seasoned jonin when he was still a wet behind the ears genin?

"Mah, mah, don't worry. I am sure I will survive whatever you throw at me, so come at me with your best, ok?" Kakashi closed his single exposed eye in an eye smile.

This was the worst mistake that he could have made.

Pain, mind-numbing pain exploded from Kakashi's chest. When he reflexively opened his eye and looked down, he saw a deep, bloody gash cut into his chest. Before his mind could fully comprehend what he was seeing, he collapsed forward, blood still streaming down his chest.

Kushina and her daughters could only watch in horror as Naruto stood above the fallen form of Kakashi, his claymore released from its holder and covered with the masked jonin's life-giving liquid.

**Chapter End**

**Word Count: 7,113 Words**

**Well, sorry for the late update. I know that I said that the chapter would have come out on August 1st, but something important came up. **

**I GOT A JOB!**

**Yeah, now I am part of the employed America, making money and all that jazz. This, combined with school opening on the 20th, left me with little time for my stories. It didn't help that this chapter was 2,000 words longer than I expected. I just finished typing the second half today morning. **

**Well, don't forget to review. I don't want to make a promise as to when the next chapter will come out, since I don't want to get your hopes up. **

**I still need to complete a few projects for tomorrow, and instead of doing those, I was typing this chapter, so I hope you all are happy. **

**Don't forget to review. I put a lot of effort into this chapter, and at least take a minute or two out of your day in order to review for this chapter. And make it a meaningful one, not one of those 'good job' ones. I need constructive criticism. **

**Signing off, **

**Mugetsu16**


	4. What is family?

**Yeah, I know I am in trouble, but I have a good reason, I swear! I'll explain at the end of this, I promise!**

If Naruto was more in touch with his neutral emotions, he would be feeling confused right now.

After his gray-haired "sensei" - Kakashi, he thought his name was - instructed him to attack him with the intent to kill, he did. He had expected to dodge, deflect, or even block, to live up to his boast. However, Naruto was left sorely disappointed by the quick and simple end.

Instead of being given a sign of approval in response to his completion of the assigned task, he was greeted with horror-stricken faces when he turned around to question the remaining three members of his team.

Now, instead of passing the test he had been given, he was seated in the office of the Hokage, the target of a cold stare from the leader of the village itself.

Meeting the glare, neither ninja nor warrior would back down, undergoing a silent battle of wills through their locked gaze. Capitulating first, the blonde kage closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, releasing a sigh of frustration.

"Naruto, what do I do with you? Do you have any idea what your stunt earlier today has done? Your opposition has been growing stronger even since the incidence, especially since you left a reputed jonin in critical condition! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Naruto took this in stride, showing no visible reaction to the tirade. His kind was always hated in their homeland, even when they were the ones who were protecting people, and the hate only turned into fear when _it_ happened.

"Are you quite finished? Why am I being accused of wrongdoing when I only acted in accordance to the parameters established by my commanding officer? In fact, would not the grievous injury I cast upon Kakashi-san be a sign of success?"

Minato had seen many things in his life, but even this shocked him. Never before had any report mentioned the sheer callousness that Naruto displayed concerning Kakashi's health. Naruto was known to be emotionally sensitive, the type to fly off the handle easily, much like his wife. He had expected Naruto to either break down and apologize, or get angry and defend himself by repeating the same statement "It wasn't my fault". Not this!

"I was told to attack with the intent to kill. I will admit that I do not follow that order exactly. If I had so, you would be interring one of your shinobi." After he had said this, Naruto's demeanor changed slightly, the only sign that he had realized something. "Is that the reason for which I m seated before you? Is it because I failed at my tasking of eliminating Kakashi-san?"

Minato was appalled. Naruto had not intentionally done anything wrong. In fact, he had genuinely believed that he needed to kill his sensei! To make it even worse, he seemed to be awaiting punishment for holding back by sparing Kakashi.

Seeing that Minato was not saying anything, Naruto took this as a sign of dismissal. Rising from his seat, he bade a terse goodbye to the hokage and left the office, his biological father still in a state of shock.

**Uzumaki-Namikaze House**

It was quiet.

This was something that never happened before. There was usually some noise that originated from the house, showing a sign of life. The source of the sound varied, whether it was Kushina taking care of the necessities within the house, Narumi's clumsiness damaging something, or Hikari chasing after her sister, making sure that she did not get into too much trouble.

However, it was quiet.

Kushina was washing the dishes, something that she usually did when she had something that she really needed to think about. The monotony of the task did wonders for her thinking process.

Narumi and Hikari were out of the house, exploring Konoha. They had not grown up in the village, so they were spending their time familiarizing themselves with the sights and the sounds of the place that their parents and their older brother, Naruto, had spent their childhood.

"_Naruto..."_

Kushina gave pause when the name of her only son passed through her head. When she had first arrived after over a decade away from her son, she had been bursting with joy, ready to meet her son after so many years apart. She had expected him to be a little angry, but that was understandable given that they had never talked to him.

What she had received in the office was a shock. The sheer malice and rage radiating off of Naruto was palpable. If the face of the Sandaime was anything to go by, this was an event that had rarely happened before, if ever. Since Naruto was a cheery person who was always smiling, Kushina inferred it was the latter.

Seeing her little boy's medical file hurt her more than she could describe. Her son, her Naru-chan, had grown up with no one, despite what the reports had said. After her had stormed off, Kushina vowed to make Naruto feel loved, to make him aware that there would always be someone for him. If it was not his father nor his siblings, then it would be her.

Kushina put the plate she had finished washing onto the rack, letting it dry. Picking up another dish and a soapy sponge, she proceeded to clean the next dish.

What she had seen that morning had surprised her. Hell it had surprised the entire team. However, she and her daughters had dismissed the physical changing, thinking that that was the extent of the change. They believed that Naruto was the same as he was before on the inside.

What complete and utter fools they were.

They were in denial. They did not want to believe that Naruto, the boy that they were told could not harm a fly, would be a cold and callous warrior. Despite his answers to Kakashi's questioning, they still held onto that rapidly deteriorating image.

An image which shattered the moment they saw the redhead male standing over the fallen form of Kakashi, holding a bloodied sword. The worst part was not the action, nor the blood.

No, it was the utter boredom that was written on Naruto's face.

Given how he felt the two days ago in the office, they expected a look of triumph, or a look of vindication, not one that was complete apathy!

Kushina picked set the plate aside, this time opting to pick up a cup. Running some hot water into the cup, Kushina continued her ministrations with the sponge.

Now, she did not know what to do. Unlike the after the meeting in the office, she could not mother Naruto. Not only had this Naruto grown into an adult, but it seemed that he did not wish for a family. When his gaze had landed on Kushina and his siblings, there was not look of anger, no look of hate.

In fact, there was no abnormal reaction at all.

It was as if Naruto was looking at people that he held no opinion for, that he did not know, and that was what had hurt the most. At least if he had hated them, she would have known that there would have been a chance to gain his love. After all, if he had the capacity to hate that much, he had the capacity to love as much, right?

However, the lack of acknowledgement was bad. They could not regain Naruto's love and care, for there was nothing to regain. It was as if they had never existed in Naruto's heart in the first place, so there was no void for them to fill, nor a void to be filled by others.

Kushina was knocked out of her thoughts by the sloshing of water moving around her hand. Focusing, she realized that she had subconsciously put the cup away, and had been searching for another dish to wash with her hands. Sighing, she set the sponge down, unplugging the drain and watched as the soapy mixture drain.

"_Just like Naruto's care for us", _Kushina thought morbidly. _"But it is nothing less than we deserve. After all, how can our minds possibly comprehend the sheer hell that Naruto had went through as a child while his sisters and parents lived in the lap of luxury?"_

**Hot Springs of Konoha**

Hikari sat in the hot springs, thankfully having a pool to herself. Her sister had decided that a species of butterfly had seemed more important, so she promptly departed in order to chase after the insect.

Hikari loved Narumi, and respected her strength, but even Hikari had to admit that her sister would be a bit of an airhead at times.

Stretching out her limbs, Hikari released a sigh of relief as she felt the knotted muscles and soreness melt away. Her mother had not been forgiving during the test in the morning, especially after the two of them had managed to "defile" her ramen, as Kushina liked to put it.

"_Sometimes", _Hikari thought, _"Kaa-chan can be even more of an airhead that Narumi. And I didn't even think that was possible."_

Thinking of her mother and her sister, Hikari's thoughts drifted towards that of the other family member that had partook in her test.

When Hikari had first seen Naruto, she could not shake off her disappointment. This was supposed to be her older brother? This shrimp wearing a nauseating amount of orange with a grin that betrayed his lack of intelligence was supposed to be the person that she was to look up to as a role model? She did not know whether to be angry at the amount of shame he would bring to the family, or laugh at the sheer absurdity of the thought all together.

Now she could not tell who was better. The orange-wearing shrimp may had been an idiotic weakling who was obviously in over his head, but he seemed to be the dependable sort of person, the person who would never abandon you, so long as you give the slightest of kindnesses. He also had a lot of untapped potential, potential that almost equalled, if not rivaled, that of herself and Narumi.

Now all she could see was a cold, merciless warrior. If the look in his eye was anything to go by, then he had grievously injured people in the past, and possible even killed a great number of others as well.

It was the feeling of his energy, however, that shocked Hikari the most.

Much like other members of the Uzumaki Clan, there are some traits that appear only in certain members of the Uzumaki Clan. For her mother, it was her Adamantine Sealing Chains. For her, it was her Mind's Eye of Kagura.

This technique, when properly mastered, allowed the user to sense chakra to such a degree, that the user was able to distinguish emotions, truths from falsehoods, and even the personalities of people from their chakra alone.

When she was around her father, she got the sense of calm and composure. When she was around her mother, she got a sense of childishness, tempered by the maturity of being a mother.

She had never tried to actively sense what Narumi's personality was like when she was acting like she was now. Hikari did not believe her sanity could survive such exposure.

However, when she had sensed her brother, there was nothing there. Yes, there was a source of energy. It was highly similar to chakra but slightly different, something that Hikari attributed to Naruto's connection with the Kyuubi.

It was his personality aura that alarmed her. Unlike others, who embodied an emotion or a set of emotions, Naruto embodied nothing. He was nothing. Hikari would be able to find Naruto easily by just distinguishing the void that he caused. This void was different than nature, which exuded an aura of neutrality.

When Hikari had first met Naruto, she felt childishness, curiosity, warmth, and suppressed pain radiating off of him. What happened within the span of twelve hours that drastically changed Naruto from something brimming with life into something that was the epitome nothing?

Hikari told nothing of her findings to anyone else. Narumi, despite being her sister, would not understand the ramifications of what was happening, if she even understood Hikari's explanation. Her father already had enough on his plate, dealing with various problems that the village faced. Their was no need to add more to that. Kushina, despite her attempts to hide it, was close to an emotional wreck. This might be the final piece that would be enough to push her over the edge. There was no need to test that theory.

Hikari stood up, water splashing onto the stone shores of the heated pond. Climbing out of the pool, she shivered before quickly slipping into a warm robe. Leaving the hot springs, she started on her trek home.

She had a lot of questions, and she wanted answers.

**Nearby Forest**

In a clearing in the forest near the hot springs, a group of butterflies were mingling, the picture of peace of tranquility.

That was swiftly broken when an explosion tore through the clearing, incinerating the pacifistic creatures.

What kind of sick, twisted, inhumane creature would do this? What kind of monster would destroy the peace that these small animals had strived for so long to achieve? What kind-"

"BUTTERFLY, NO!"

Bounding into the clearing was one Narumi Uzumaki-Namikaze, her eyes widened in horror of the small butterfly she had just killed. She wanted to throw a kunai at the little bugger to scare it, but she didn't see the explosive tag attached to it.

She landed on the ground a pouted heavily, stomping her foot on the ground. She had worked so hard in chasing that butterfly! She had even left her sister behind, who was speaking about something that sounded important. Narumi had just tuned her out, an art that she had perfected during the days that she had to stay inside during the storms.

Crying anime tears, Narumi fell to her knees and started beating the ground. Just as she was going to devolve further into her misery, a butterfly flew past her face, and further into the forest.

"BUTTERFLY!"

Her previous sadness forgotten, Narumi quickly leaped to her feet and chased after the butterfly.

Yeah, sometimes it would be better not to know what Narumi was thinking. It might be better for everyone's sanity.

It was sad, really. Narumi was the one who took after Kushina the most in the personality department, but her current state was caused by a mental defect that formed due to her connection the the Kyuubi.

This was her defense mechanism. Whenever she was faced with emotional strife such as the situation with her brother, she turned innocent, almost child-like in nature. When she was like this, her family learned two things:

First, don't try to reason with her when she was like this. She had zero reason, and grew chaotic when pushed.

Second, never do anything that would upset her. The last time that is had happened, she had the be restrained by her mothers chains and knocked out. She had not woken up for three days.

Another explosion could be heard a distance away, accompanied by a cry of sadness and frustration.

Naruto was in another area of the village, in a forest much like Narumi. However, this forest was different than the one his estranged "sister" was currently frolicking in. This was Training Ground 44, Konoha's infamous Forest of Death.

To Naruto, that was a misnomer. How was this a forest of death. Sure, they had poisonous plants and giant, carnivorous animals, but the death toll was not high. In fact, there had not been a death in this forest within the last twenties years, and even then it was a foolish civilian who did not heed the warnings pasted all over the border fence.

Stupid humans and there stupid pride. Did they make it there life's goal to do the stupidest and most dangerous things possibly until they are finally killed?

After his interrogation at the Hokage's office, Naruto swiftly made his way to this Training Ground. Despite the lack of deaths in the sylvan land, the rumors of the forest kept most people away. Even then, the only person who truly frequented the forest was a seemingly promiscuous snake user, who was currently out on a mission.

Having no human in the immediate vicinity, Naruto chose to take up residence in the tower for the time being. If any civilian caught wind of what he had done to their jonin, they would be up in arms against him.

He had no desire to explain to his father why there was blood and gore splattered all over his front doorstep, along with the corpses of a would-be lynch mob.

"_My father..."_

Minato and the rest of his family was something that Naruto would not understand. They tried with great effort to get him to "forgive" them, but he saw no reason as to why. Before the test in the morning, they thought that he was a weakling. Even now, they only believed that he had managed to catch Kakashi by surprise, no more skilled that an experienced chuunin.

No, it was not his strength they were after. Logic dictated that they would be placing too much effort for too little of a reward.

What else could it be?

In there eyes, he had no special power like that of Hikari and Narumi. To them, he was just another aspiring shinobi. No, there was no special trait no kekkei genkai that he held that would be useful to the village. The skills that he had were unique solely to him.

The blonde kage called him his father, but what did that mean? Growing up the way that he did, he had no room for love or compassion. The few relationships that he had were with his instructors, and even then they were few and fleeting. They rotated every week, so it was not like he had the time to get attached to them. There hands-on method of training only made them less inviting.

In his journeys, he had viewed many of these "fathers" from a distance. He did not see what made them different than the rest of the adult males around them. They all varied in height, strength, and demeanor, but usually had no more strength or ability than a fellow male.

Was it the child that they had with them? Those children managed to either brighten their day or make it worse, but other than that they had no meaning. They seemed to share an emotional bond, but how far would that bond go? He had seen many children abandoned to the flesh eaters by fearful 'fathers'.

He would have continued to ponder his dilemma, if it were not for the two arms that circled his waist. For most people, this would have been met with a violent response, but not for _her. _

Continuing his silent vigil, he waited for the woman to address him. He was not disappointed when he felt a shapely body press up against his back, and a soft, sensual voice greeted his ears.

"What bothers you, beloved? You would have at least greeted me by now. You even have that distant look in your eye, that look that tells me somethings has happened." She then pulled herself flush against his body. "Please tell me" she crooned.

Naruto made no reaction. While the first few times her actions had made him uncomfortable, he had grown used to it. Over time, the temptation had grown onto him, and it had become his guilty pleasure.

After allowing himself to bask in the warmth and pleasurable feelings that the actions of the seductress behind him offered, he replied, "It is nothing that should concern you."

Naruto could sense the frown that marred the beautiful face behind him. Opting to grind her body against the male, the woman tsked in annoyance.

"Beloved, you should know by now that that is not the way that things work. I ask you a question, and you answer wholly and completely." Shrinking into herself, she put on a mask of sadness and fear, something that Naruto saw through immediately. "Or do you finally grow tired of me? Has all I have done mean so little to you?"

The claymore released a sigh, something that was almost one of frustration or exasperation, his gaze softening. "You know that that is not true, my hime. You were always there for me, and you were there when I needed you the most. I treasure you above all things in this world and the next."

When he finished this, his eyes hardened as he twisted in the grip of his captor, staring unflinchingly into her eyes. Releasing a small bit of yoki in an attempt to intimidate his companion, he continued. "However, do not think that I am answerable to you, nor that I am underneath you. My secrets that I hold are mine alone, and you may not intrude upon them with impunity.

Instead of getting angry, the interloper grew amused. Reaching out with her hand, she gently caressed Naruto's cheek. "That is what I wanted to see. You are not afraid to stand up for yourself, even against someone as powerful as myself. Were you not the one who said that you were not confident in your ability to defeat me? What changed?"

Naruto's gaze remained hardened, his steely calm voice not betraying anything. "Things change. I changed. I have found something that you may find interesting." When the woman realized that Naruto would not speak further about the topic, she laughed.

When the redheaded warrior heard the laugh, he shivered. This was not a shiver of fear nor pleasure, but of something more. The laughter was beautiful, but only in an ethereal sense, as if it were something that could not be found on the earth. Given the nature of the woman, that was understandable.

Pulling Naruto forward by the hand that was still on his cheek, she pressed her lips against his, granting him the warmth and comfort that he desperately craved. The warmth and comfort that only she could provide.

Pulling herself back, she noticed that Naruto's hands were wrapped around her waist. Releasing herself from the embrace of her lover, she leapt to the ledge giving Naruto one last look, one last challenge, and departed.

Naruto knew what that look meant. There was going to be another clash between the two soon, and given what he had recently discovered, it was going to be one that would larger than any battle the two of them had shared before.

The woman seemed otherworldly, yet Naruto felt that he could connect with her. They both were lone warriors who stood at the apex of power, and before meeting each other, had no one who could push them.

Turning around, he gave one last look to the place where his closest acquaintance, rival, and lover had stood mere moments ago. Walking away, he spoke one last time to her, even though he knew that she would not be able to hear.

"I look forward to our next clash as well, _hime-chan_..."

**CHAPTER END**

**Word Count: 3,914**

**Yeah, I know that I am in trouble. Not only is the chapter coming a month after I had promised it, but it is over a thousand words shorter than usual. I'll explain myself.**

**After I had made that promise, I read a story, **_**A New Life **_**by Infernal Maelstrom. That story was wonderfully written, but the ending made me downright depressed, and made me question my lot in life. **

**I actually left fanfiction for a few days, because I could not read any stories without remembering what I had just read. That being said, it immediately became my favorite story to date. I know an emotional response of that level is stupid considering that this is a fanfiction, but I can't help myself. **

**Furthermore, the reason this chapter is shorter than the others is because I cannot continue it without ruining the tone that I (hopefully) set with the ending. Neither could I add to the chapter, because I felt it would detract from it due to the unnecessary filling. Quality, not quantity, ne?**

**Well, there was not much plot progression in this chapter, but I did develop the characters further. I introduced a new character, and developed Naruto's apathetic nature further. I also unveiled a new side to Narumi. **

**I won't make any promises in regards to the next chapter, but I am basically done with college apps, so I should have more free time, even if I am working more than 20 hours a week at my job as well as going to school.**

**I hope this is not necessary, but read and review. **


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